On Friday Air France-KLM "will refuse to participate in the capital increase of Alitalia". The French newspaper Le Figaro wrote it yesterday, citing confidential sources. The Franco-Dutch company, the newspaper points out, will thus see its stake diluted by around 10%.
"If Air France stays well, otherwise Alitalia and the government will be free to look at other solutions", commented Federico Ghizzoni, CEO of Unicredit, creditor bank of the Italian company and probable new shareholder as a result of participation in the guarantee consortium. “I remain positive both on the short-term solution, ie the capital increase, and on the fact that a medium-term solution can be found – he added -. Our commitment is to support the company so that it can find an alliance in the medium term”.
In the meantime, rumors are pouring in on the industrial plan which will be presented tomorrow to the Board of Directors by the CEO of Alitalia, Gabriele Del Torchio. The operation should make it possible to save 250 million euros, with heavy personnel cuts (Il Messaggero wrote of 4 redundancies, Bloomberg of 2) and the almost total cancellation of fixed-term contracts.
Redundancies are “a big problem that needs to be solved – said the Minister of Economic Development, Flavio Zanonato -. We need to close with a credible and convincing business plan”. Today the secretaries of CGIL, CISL, UIL and Ugl will meet the Minister of Transport, Maurizio Lupi.
